AJ’s Smokin’ Sports Corner: Week 13 NFL Picks

Week 13 NFL Picks

I watched a very interesting segment on Monday Night Countdown last night. It ties into the focus of my blog last week, where I thought the hit on Drew Brees should not have been a penalty. This segment was done by ESPN writer Rick Reilly and to some extent it really opened my eyes on my thoughts of the NFL and football in general. Please take a few minutes and watch, and I will give you my thoughts below.

The one thing that stood out to me was to hear players like Brett Favre cannot remember what happens in their daughter’s soccer game, or that defensive end Karl Mecklenburg who was an outstanding player with the Denver Broncos, has to take a picture of the hotel he is staying in, or he will forget. To hear the mental struggles that Junior Seau had when he retired that ended up making him take his own life. Those are tough stories to hear. The one point I will disagree with Reilly on, is he compared the modern day NFL player to a Gladiator that fought in Rome. You cannot make that comparison because Gladiator’s were slaves that were traded or lost in the area at no profit to the individual who is taking the most risk. Today’s NFL player is well compensated for their athletic talent, and risk they take to their body. A Gladiator was just thankful to be feed or even alive after his day in the arena. I agree with most of the changes that the NFL is trying to make, but they cannot forget that it still has to be football. Football is not easy. Football requires dedication, heart, and a willingness to give everything you have inside you for the benefit of the team. I know growing up football instilled in me a lot of my core values that I live by today. So yes NFL make changes to the sport to help make it safer for the players, but I will say this again, whatever changes you make don’t forget that in the end it still has to be football, and football should not be easy.

Can we officially call the Brady vs. Manning comparisons over! Manning is a great player (Thank God he won that one Super Bowl because his career would mirror Dan Marino) but Brady has clearly beat him consistently in all there match ups. I love it Brady still beat him, even though Welker is now a Bronco. KC might be coming down to earth, and the 49ers are starting to make some moves in the right direction. Talking about coming back to earth what happened to the Colts? They need to get back on track with their defense this week, or they could start to fall out of the playoff race all together. You know I cannot forget to give my Bucs some love. That would be 3 wins in a row, thank you very much! Mike Glennon is really starting to play well, and the Bucs may have something for the future at QB. Though all the turmoil and changes this season Greg Schiano appears to have won the players on his side, and they are starting to win for him. I think he has already saved his job at least for one more year.

We are going to wrap up our top ten of all time this week with the best Safeties to every play the game. Not sure if we will start a top ten “team oriented” list or not, I guess you will have to read next week to find out.

Ronnie Lot

Paul Krause

Jack Tatum

Ed Reed

Willie Wood

Steve Atwater

Troy Polamalu

Brian Dawkins

John Lynch

Darren Woodson

I hate ties in the NFL! At this point there really should be a way to decide a winner and a loser in a NFL game. I have decided to not count the Packers/Vikings game as a loss or a win this week. Still a strong record for the season but man this year has been a lot tougher than last. I am still hoping to finish strong and have some better picks towards the end of the year.

Last week’s record in all the games:
7 wins – 6 misses

Locks of the week
3 wins – 2 misses

Total for the year:
94 wins – 68 misses

Locks of the week:
33 wins – 16 misses

[table “” not found /]
[table “” not found /]
[table “” not found /]
[table “” not found /]
[table “” not found /]

Cheerleader of the Week

Fantasy Tip of the Week

Normally I give you a suggestion on who to play this week, but we are going to do something a little different. Now this pick depends on Darrelle Revis being healthy this week. Do not play Cam Newton, and start the Bucs Defense. They are playing great right now and creating a lot of turnovers.